The main difference between Tohu and Tikkun is that the world of Tohu contained very high, sublime Divine lights with only small vessels to retain them. Tikkun, however, contains a balanced quantity of Divine lights with substantially large vessels to withhold the light. Thus, while the world of Tohu contained superior Divine lights, the world of Tikkun contains superior vessels. These vessels are rooted in a very high level of G-dliness and surpass the advantage of even the sublime lights of Tohu. This is similar to the power of intellect found in the brain in relation to the ability of movement found in the feet. When weighing the two soul powers against each other, the power of the mind is certainly of greater importance and prestige than the power of movement in the legs. Nevertheless, it is specifically the legs that can carry the mind to wherever it chooses. Therefore, the legs contain certain advantages even over the mind.
The main difference between Tohu and Tikkun
R' Feinstein on the Rebbe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nedaTLD9wuU
R feinstein
Sunday, 19th April 1950 The Day-Morning Journal page 6
From the series: “Hasidic Rebbes Who Were Killed by the Nazis”
By Manashe Unger
Translation © 2010 by Gloria Berkenstat Freund
Radomsker Rebbe Who Perished in Jewish Martyrdom in the Warsaw Ghetto
His proud answer to the Nazi torturers. – Also his brother-in-law, Moishele Kraszner, who perished in Jewish martyrdom
Among the [large number] of Jewish victims who perished in Jewish martyrdom in the Warsaw Ghetto is found the Radomsker Rebbe Reb Shlomoh Henokh Hakohan Rabinowicz, who was killed along with his wife, his only daughter and his son-in-law, Reb Dovid Moishe Rabinowicz.
As it is told, the Radomsker Rebbe died as a martyr and a hero.
Nazi Gestapo-agents rushed into his dwelling in the Warsaw Ghetto and ordered him to go with them. Every Jew in the ghetto knew that whoever the Nazis took with them would no longer live to see the light shining on the world. They dragged their victims to a death camp, where gas wagons were ready and the Jews were sent there. The Radomsker Rebbe refused to follow the order of the Nazi agents and he worthily answered:
“I know that you have come to kill me. I am ready to die here in my room and not somewhere in a gas-wagon!...”And when the Rebbe ended the “ekhod” of the “Shema Yisroel” [last word of the prayer said every day on the oneness of God] that he was saying, a Nazi bullet punctured his brain and his family was killed together with him on the spot: his wife, his daughter and son-in-law.
With the death of the Radomsker Rebbe, an entire rabbinic dynasty perished. The Nazi bullet that punctured the brain of the Radomsker Rebbe extinguished the light of the last male of the great rabbinic stock, which stretches from the first Radomsker Rebbe, Reb Shlomoh Radomsker, famous in the Hasidic world under the name of the Hasidic sefer (book) that he wrote: “Tiferes Shlomoh.”
The last Radomsker Rebbe had thousands and thousands of Hasidic followers in Poland and in Galicia. It can be said the he was the only Rebbe in Poland of whom it can be said that many Hasidim traveled to him from Galicia. Before the recent World War there were more Radomsker shtiblekh (small prayer houses) than Gerer in Krakow.
The young Radomsker Hasidim were very visible because the Radomsker Rebbe founded yeshivus (religious schools) in a whole line of cities, in which around two thousand young men studied.
The Radomsker yeshivus were in the cities of Radomsk, Bendin, Sosnowice, Krakow, Lodz, Piotrokow, Chraznow and in a whole line of other cities.
The Radomsker Rebbe was an unusual rebbe. He was both a rebbe and a businessman. He was not an ordinary businessman, but a millionaire, who was counted among the Jewish millionaires in Poland and among the rabbis he certainly was the greatest millionaire.
Alas in the last fifty years, it was not news that rabbis would manage businesses in Poland. There were other rebbes who were partners in large business undertakings. However, officially, a Hasid wanted a rebbe as a partner in his business in order to be sure that with the rebbe’s blessing, the business would prosper.
The Radomsker Rebbe was not just a partner to other businessmen, but he himself headed large businesses. He owned a large number of houses in Poland, and from 1933, before Hitler came to power, he also owned many houses in Berlin and in Leipzig. And at the same time, the Radomsker Rebbe also sat day and night learning Torah and doing service for God. He devoted himself to the yeshivus he had built in various cities in Poland and Galicia and the businesses were run by his devoted Hasidim.
On every beautiful Shabbos and yom-tov (religious holiday) thousands of Hasidim from every city in Poland and Galicia would come to Sosnowice, where the Rebbe lived before the Second World War. The Rebbe would head the office of Hasidic Rebbe as in the old Radomsker manner, reciting Torah, singing
Shabbos songs, sharing his leftovers [which the Hasidim would eat as a matter of honor] and serving food.
How did his Hasidim react to such things?
The Rebbe gave away half of his fortune for the upkeep of the yeshivus in the various cities, and as he was himself a businessman, he did not have to ask the Hasidim for money. This gave him the opportunity to be independent and to have the opportunity to serve God undisturbed.
The Rebbe truly spent a great deal of money for his private library. After the Gerer Rebbe, the Radomsker Rebbe had the largest private library in Poland. Each year the Radomsker Rebbe would spend thousands to buy old writing and old prints.
____________
The last Radomsker Rebbe, who was murdered by the Nazis, was the fourth generation from the founder of the Radomsker Dynasty, Reb Shlomoh’le Radomsker.
The Rebbe Reb Shlomoh Radomsker was a student of the Rebbes: Reb Meir Apter, Reb Ber Radoszicer and Reb Yekhezkeil Kozmir.
In his youth, Reb Shlomoh Radomsker was a businessman. Then he was Rabbi in Radomsk and then a rebbe.
The Rebbe Shlomoh Radomsker immediately earned the name of a great tzadek (righteous man). Hundreds of Hasidim traveled to be with him and many rebbes sat at his table. Hasidim tell that when the Rebbe Reb Moishe Lelewer - Reb Dovid’l Lelewer’s son – emigrated to Eretz-Yisroel, he first went to take leave of Reb Shlomoh Radomsker. At the leave-taking, the Rebbe Reb Moishe Lelewer asked Rebbe Shlomoh Radomsker to bless him. At the departure, it is told, the Lelewer Hasidim asked:
– “Rebbe, with whom are you leaving us?”
– “With Rebbe Reb Shlomoh Radomsker,” Reb Moishe Lelewer answered.
The Rebbe Reb Shlomoh Radomsker was also a great singer. He had a beautiful singing voice. He prayed in front of the lectern every Shabbos and every yom-tov.
And suddenly when the Radomsker was already well-known in all of Poland as a great rebbe, he decided to travel to another rebbe, as an ordinary Hasid. He chose for his rebbe, Reb Haim Halbersztat of Sanz.
The entire Hasidic world was then in an uproar. It was not a small thing, a rebbe of hundreds and hundreds of Hasidim leaves his seat and himself becomes a Hasid. And then the Radomsker Rebbe chose to go to Sanz on Shavous, on a yom-tov when many Hasidim come to him.
And Hasidim tell that before the Radomsker Rebbe traveled to Sanz, his son Reb Avrahame’le, his later successor, asked:
– “Tata (father), how can you leave so many Hasidim on such a holy yom-tov, Shavous? How can you cause grieving among so many God-fearing and sincere men?”
– “My child,” the Rebbe Reb Shlomoh answered, “I’m getting old, and I want to again feel the taste of receiving Torah that Jews felt when they stood at Mount Sinai and this I can only feel when I am with the holy Sanzer Rebbe.
And his son, Reb Avrahame’le no longer asked. Hundreds of Hasidim came to Radomsk on that Shavous, they prayed in the Radomsker Synagogue; however, without their rebbe. Rebbe Reb Shlomoh went to Sanz.
The Radomsker Rebbe died on a Thursday at night in 5626 (1866) after midnight prayers in commemoration of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. Hasidim tell that the Gerer Rebbe (the Chiddushei HaRim) died a week earlier. The Radomsker Rebbe asked his Hasidim about the Gerer Rebbe’s funeral.
At night on the same Thursday, two rebbes, the Rebbe Reb Tzamekh of Chrolowice and the Rebbe Reb Ahron of Krakow, the son of “Meir Shamas,” arrived in Radomsk. After saying “Sholem Alecheim” [greeting each other], the Radomsker Rebbe spent two hours with them discussing the death of the Gerer Rebbe and he said, “Who will welcome this Shabbos at the lectern now in Gan-Eyden [Garden of Eden or paradise]?”
And the Radomsker Hasidim really believe that the old Radomsker Rebbe is the one who welcomes Shabbos at the lectern in Gan-Eyden right up to the present day.
His son, the Rebbe Reb Avraham’ele, who became rebbe after the death of Reb Shlomoh Radomsker, also had many Hasidim in Poland and in Galicia. He left Khesed L’Avraham, a book about Torah. He also wrote a book about Torah, Knesset Yehezkeil. His son was the last Radomsker Rebbe Reb Shlomoh Henokh, who built many yeshivus in various cities in Poland and in Galicia.
When the recent war broke out, the Radomsker Rebbe ran from Sosnowice, where he lived after the First World War, to Aleksander. From there most likely he was sent by the Nazis into the Warsaw Ghetto, where the Nazi barbarians cut down the tree of the Radomsker Dynasty and killed him with his entire family with such savagery.
The Radomsker Rebbe’s brother-in-law, the Rebbe Reb Moishe’le Tverski of Kras, who was a son of my uncle, the Rebbe Reb Ahrele Twerski, of blessed memory, of Kras, also perished in Jewish martyrdom at the hands of the Germans, together with his entire family, with his rebetzin Freidele and his only daughter Tziva.
At first the Krosner Rebbe Reb Moishe’le was saved in Lemberg, together with his mother, my aunt Doyzele, may she rest in peace, who was the daughter of the old Razwadower Rebbe, Reb Moishe’le Horowicz, of blessed memory. Her daughters Simkha and Miriam with her husband the Rebbe Reb Nafthali Horowicz, the last Razwadower Rebbe and their children were there, too. Later, when Aunt Doyzele died in Lemberg, they returned to Kras and there they all perished in Jewish martyrdom…
Let us on this day, when we remember the Ghetto Uprising in Warsaw, and every day of the year, and for all eternity, remember what the Germans did to the Jewish people, and let us never forgive them…
Photo caption: The Krosner Rebbe, Reb Moishele Twerski, a brother-in-law of the Radomsker Rebbe, may the Lord avenge his blood, who perished as a martyr as a Jew, together with his entire family in Poland.
electrical force
The following is a freely-translated excerpt from a letter by the Rebbe to Mr. Shneur Zalman Shazar (president of the State of Israel in the years 1963-73),1 dated Tevet 14, 5714 (December 20, 1953), in which the Rebbe touches on the parallels between the spiritual light unleashed on Kislev 192and modern-day lighting methods.
It was with pleasure that I received the news that electrical power has been installed in Kfar Chabad, and that farbrengens were already held by its light on the luminous day of the 19th of Kislev. I am told that the matter was arranged thanks to your effort and vigor, and I thank you and congratulate you on this.
It is an age-old Jewish custom to seek a deeper meaning and instruction in every occurrence, as per the saying of the Mishnah, "Who is wise? He who learns from every man";3 to which the Baal Shem Tov adds that one must also learn something from every event and its every detail.
From the day of his redemption on the 19th of Kislev, the double4 light of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi began to spread, free of all disturbances and obstructions, and in a manner that could reach also the simplest of folk. Indeed, this is the elementary principle of Chassidism: to draw down and connect the ultimate heights with the lowest depths...
The electrical force is one of the hidden forces of nature. It cannot be perceived by any of the five senses—we know of its existence only through its causations and effects. Yet this hidden force most potently banishes darkness and illuminates the night. Thus, electricity is a physical analog for the spiritual force of Chassidism, whereby the hidden element of Torah and its most arcane secrets—as revealed via Chassidic teaching and the Chassidic way of life—banish the darkness of the material world and illuminate the murkiness of the physical existence.5
As his name indicates, Mr. Shazar was a descendant of Chabad Chassidim. He maintained a close relationship with the Rebbe and greatly assisted the Chabad community and its institutions in Israel.
The 19th of Kislev 19 marks the day, in the year 5559 (1798), that the founder of Chabad Chassidism, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, was released from imprisonment in Czarist Russia. Rabbi Schneur Zalman had been arrested on charges, put forth by opponents of Chassidism, that his activities, and the movement he founded, contained treasonous elements. His exoneration and release marked Chassidism's victory over those who sought to destroy it; following the 19th of Kislev, the movement gained many new adherents, and its teachings were far more broadly and freely disseminated. Rabbi Schneur Zalman's style of teaching also assumed a new form: he now expounded on the "soul of Torah," previously presented only in the form of terse Kabbalistic formulas, at greater length and in a manner that more readily allowed their intellectual assimilation.
On a deeper level, the arrest and liberation were interpreted by Rabbi Schneur Zalman and his followers as the earthly speculum of a supernal drama, in which the movement itself was on trial before the Heavenly court. Is it proper to reveal the most intimate secrets of Torah, which had been the exclusive province of a select few in each generation, to the public at large? Is it proper to clothe them in garments of reason, so that these essentially supra-rational truths should take the form of a rational philosophy and creed? Rabbi Schneur Zalman's release from earthly prison signified his vindication above: the Heavenly court had ruled that the time had indeed come for the inner light of Torah to be revealed and to illuminate the world.
The 19th of Kislev is thus celebrated by the Chabad community as the "Rosh Hashanah of Chassidism." Farbrengens—informal gatherings at which expositions of Chassidic teaching and words of inspiration mingle with melody, dance and l'chaims—are held in every community, and Chassidim wish each other a "good year in the learning of Chassidut and the ways of Chassidut."
Ethics of the Fathers 4:1.
The name "Schneur" is an acronym of the Hebrew words shnei ohr ("two lights"), a reference to Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi's achievements in both the exoteric element of Torah (Halachah) and its esoteric dimension.
Igrot Kodesh, vol. VIII, pp. 101-102.
Torah study when joined with deeds and with the service of the heart through prayer
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch, Likkutei Dibburim Volume 4,
36:19
There is another major school of thought in divine service. Man’s
main goal is not Torah study exclusively, but Torah study when joined with
deeds and with the service of the heart through prayer5 — for whoever says “I
have nothing but Torah study6 alone,” does not have
even true Torah study.
Torah
study is true when the learner knows that it is the wisdom and will of G‑d,
Whose supernal wisdom decreed that if Reuven should claim thus and Shimon7 thus, then such and such
should be the verdict of the Halachah. The
true student of the Torah cleaves to the sanctity of the Halachah and to the sanctity of the
Torah’s letters. When with his mind he encompasses the Word of G‑d which he is
presently studying, his mind is in turn encompassed He encompasses... in turn
encompassed: Cf. ibid. by it, and
in this way he becomes one with the infinite Ein Sof-light
which is imbued in the Torah.
If a
man with his physical brain is to approach the innermost reaches of sanctity,
this may be achieved by “the service of the heart, which is prayer.” And this
in turn springs from an awareness of G‑d’s sublime exaltedness, and from
meditating and “gazing upon the glory of the King.” Gazing upon the glory of
the King: Cf. Tanya — Iggeres
HaKodesh, Epistle 24.
In
every aspect and event and circumstance in the multifaceted life of man and of
all other creatures, the Baal Shem Tov finds G‑d. For there is nothing in all
the levels of creation (inanimate, vegetative, animal or human) and in all the
Four Elements (Fire, Air, Water, Earth) that does not point at the omnipresence
of Divinity.
The
Baal Shem Tov’s school of thought is basically one teaching with two aspects:
(a) Divinity is everything;8 (b) Everything is
Divinity.9
On
this foundation are based all the teachings and expositions with which Chassidus explains Torah and mitzvos as
they relate to the entire life of man on earth.
Mortal
man who lives on the earth which was created and formed by the Master of All is
formed in the image of the Supernal Man of Whom it is written, “the likeness of
the appearance10 of a man upon it, above.”
It is because of this resemblance that this created being is called אָדָם (adam), as
in the phrase, אֶדַּמֶּה לְעֶלְיוֹן — “I resemble the
Most High.”11
Accordingly,
in all his divine service mortal man can unite and bond with the infinite Ein Sof-light.
What links them is the Torah and its mitzvos, as
it is written, זֹאת הַתּוֹרָה: אָדָם — “This is the Torah:
man....” This is the Torah: man: Num. 19:14,
interpreted on the non-literal level of derush. For
the Torah [parallel to man] includes 248 positive commandments 248 positive
commandments: In the original, 248 mitzvos
aseh, corresponding to man’s 248 organs. and 365 prohibitive
commandments.12
And
“this is the whole [destiny] of man”13 — that all his days should constitute a
long chain of avodah and positive
activity; that he should distance himself from that which is material and draw
close to that which is spiritual by exerting himself in strenuous avodah; that in every entity he encounters
he should spurn Matter14 and choose Form.15
5..Service
of the heart through prayer: Cf. Tractate Taanis2a.
6.I have nothing but Torah
study: Cf. Tractate Yevamos109b. [Cf. Tractate Avos 1:17: “Study is
not the most important thing, but actions”]
7.Wisdom and will...
Reuven... Shimon...: Cf. Tanya, ch. 5.
8.Divinity is everything:
In the original Yid., Der Eibershter iz altz.
9.Everything is Divinity:
In the original Yid., Altz iz der Eibershter.
10.The likeness of the
appearance: From Yechezkel’s Vision of the Divine Chariot, Ezek. 1:26.
11.I resemble the Most
High: Isa. 14:14.
12.365 prohibitive
commandments: In the original, 365 mitzvos lo taaseh, corresponding
to man’s 365 sinews.
13.This is the whole
[destiny] of man: Eccles. 12:13. (“When all has been heard,
the conclusion of the matter is this: Fear God and keep His commandments,
because this is the whole duty of man”.)
14.Matter: In the
original, Chomer.
15.Form: In the
original, Tzurah.
tuck their shirts into their pants.
https://shulchanaruchharav.com/halacha/not-to-be-dressed-sloppy-tucking-in-the-shirt/
Rabbi Hutner
After receiving the set and reading the letter, Rabbi Hutner responded: “Thanks for the set of Sefer HaLikuttim. I was taken aback by the term “interest” the Rebbe employed to classify my attachment to chassidus. In fact, a huge part of my soul is rooted in Chabad chassidus, without which I’d be incomplete.”
charity over torah
על כן אהוביי אחיי
Therefore, my beloved ones, my brethren:
שימו נא לבבכם לאלה הדברים הנאמרים בקצרה מאד
Direct your hearts to these words which are expressed very briefly,
ואם ירצה ה׳, פנים אל פנים אדבר בם בארוכה
(1and face to face, please G‑d, I will speak of them at length) —
איך היות כל עיקר עבודת ה׳ בעתים הללו, בעקבות משיחא, היא עבודת הצדקה
how in these times, when the approaching footsteps of Mashiach are close upon us, the principal service of G‑d is the service of charity.
כמו שאמרו רז״ל: אין ישראל נגאלין אלא בצדקה
As our Sages, of blessed memory, said:2 “Israel will be redeemed only through charity.”
ולא אמרו רז״ל: תלמוד תורה שקול כנגד גמילות חסדים
Our Sages, of blessed memory, did not say that the study of Torah is equivalent to the performance of acts of lovingkindness,
The Mishnah states in Peah:3 “The study of Torah is equivalent to them all,” i.e., to all the mitzvot previously enumerated in the Mishnah, and these include gemilut chassadim, the performance of acts of lovingkindness,
אלא בימיהם
except in their own days.
שתלמוד תורה היה עיקר העבודה אצלם, ועל כן היו חכמים גדולים, תנאים ואמוראים
For with them the principal area of divine service was the study of the Torah, which is why at that time there were great scholars: tannaim and amoraim.
מה שאין כן בעקבות משיחא
However, in a time when the approaching footsteps of Mashiach are close upon us,
שנפלה סוכת דוד עד בחינת רגלים ועקביים, שהיא בחינת עשיה
as “the Sukkah of David has fallen” to a level of “feet” and “heels”, i.e., to the level of Asiyah,
I.e., the Sefirah called Malchut of Atzilut, the Shechinah that vests itself in the lower Worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah — also known as the “Sukkah of David,” for David, as the King of Israel, was a merkavah to Malchut of Atzilut — has fallen to the lowest level of Asiyah.
אין דרך לדבקה בה באמת
there is no way of truly cleaving unto it, i.e., to the Shechinah,
ולהפכא חשוכא לנהורא דילה
and transforming the darkness of the world into its light,4
כי אם בבחינת עשיה גם כן
except through a corresponding category of action, and not through intellect and speech alone, as in Torah study,
שהיא מעשה הצדקה
namely, the act of charity.
But why is charity unique among all the many commandments that involve action?
כידוע למשכילים, שבחינת עשיה באלקות היא בחינת השפעת והמשכת החיות למטה מטה, למאן דלית ליה מגרמיה כלום
As is known to the scholarly, “action” with reference to Divinity is the diffusion and downward flow of vitality to the lowest depths — to him who has nothing of his own.
Among the currents of Divine influence that descend into the various worlds, there are those that are called “thought” and “speech”. The flow of vitality to the very lowest level — to the World of Asiyah, where G‑dliness is not at all manifest — is called “action”.
The act of giving tzedakah thus truly corresponds to the spiritual level of Asiyah, inasmuch as it too provides beneficence to one “who has nothing of his own.”
וכל הזובח את יצרו בזה
And whoever sacrifices his impulse in this respect, i.e., with respect to charity,
ופותח ידו ולבבו
and opens his hand and heart,
אתכפיא סטרא אחרא
[thereby] causes5 “the other [i.e., evil] side” of the universe to be subjugated,
ומהפך חשוכא לאור ה׳ יתברך, השוכן עלינו בבחינת עשיה בעקבות משיחא
and6 “converts the darkness into the light” of G‑d, blessed be He, Who, in the time when the footsteps of Mashiach are close upon us, dwells over us in a state of action;
ויזכה לראות עין בעין, בשוב ה׳ ציון כו׳
moreover, he will merit to7 “behold Eye to eye, G‑d returning to Zion....”
At that time the physical eye, though yet retaining its physicality, will behold G‑dliness as it is beheld by the Supernal Eye. Thus, within the physicality of the World of Asiyah, there will be revealed the level of certainty in spiritual perception which is called vision — a level that far surpasses the furthest attainments of the intellect.
| FOOTNOTES | |
| 1. | Parentheses are in the original text. |
| 2. | Note of the Rebbe: “See Rambam, Hilchot Matnot Aniyim, beginning of ch. 10; quoted in Tur, Yoreh Deah, beginning of sec. 247. The above quotation does not refer to the similar teaching in the Talmud (Shabbat 139a; Sanhedrin 98a), for there the verb is נפדה [whereas our text reads נגאלין]. Very often, as is well known, the commentators {(the Radbaz and the Kesef Mishneh and the Glosses on the Tur) who give the teaching of Ulla in the Talmud (loc. cit.) as Rambam’s source} do not intend to quote the exact wording of a particular teaching, but rather to cite its content. See also the halachah that immediately follows this statement in the Rambam, and the above-named commentaries on it.“ As to Mesoret HaShas and the other authorities who argue that the Rambam had before him the text ‘Israel’ (in place of ‘Jerusalem’) in the Talmud, they speak only of the one word ‘Israel’, and such a variant reading is to be found elsewhere — in Ein Yaakov. A version that would include nigalin, however, I have yet to find in the Talmud or in Yalkut Shimoni. Moreover, it is more improbable to postulate that the Rambam had a variant reading that is not at all extant, than to assume that the Rambam is more explicit than the Talmud, for which reason he very understandably writes nigalin.” |
| 3. | 1:1. |
| 4. | V.L.: לנהורא דיליה (“to his light”). |
| 5. | Cf. Likkutei Amarim, Part I, ch. 27. |
| 6. | Cf. Likkutei Amarim, Part I, ch. 27. |
| 7. | Yeshayahu 52:8. |